Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-10-17
A BLOODY DEED.
A CHICAGO YOUTH SHOOTS DOWN
HIS STEP-FATHER.
He Defends His Mothers Name by
Filling Her Defamer With
Lead-A Social Scandal.
ESPECIAL DIsrArcHB TO THE nrooap-unos.

CHICAGO, October 16th.-In the throng of
people at the church door Of one of the
most fashionable congregations in Chicago,
a gray-haired millionaire bank President
was remorselessly shot down to-day by his
step-son, to avenge or shield q woman
charged with continuous adultery. The
woman was no less a person than Mrs.
Meckie Rawson, wife of the banker shot,
and mother of the assailant. The banker
is Stephen W. Rawson, President of the
Union Trust Company, of Chicago. Will
lam Lee. aged seventeen, is the step-son,
Banker Rawson, with
FIVE BULLETS IN HIS BODY,
And apparently in dying condition, was
hastily picked up off the blood-spattered
curb and bundled into one Of the score of
carriages that had been waiting for wealthy
worshipers.
Young Lee. with an empty, still smok-
ing pistol, was as hurriedly thrown into
strikingly different conveyance, the blue
painted, commonplace wagon of the near
est police patrol, that came rattling around
the corner. Away went the carriage in
one direction, and off in another darted
the patrol-wagon, while all around on
the streets or sidewalks gaped the horror
stricken attendants of five great churches
in the vicinity. just pouring out after the
mornings praise of Him who commanded
" Thou shalt not kill" and Thou shalt
not commit adultery"
WAITING FOR HIS VICTIM.
Slowly the crowds began to recover their
dazed senses and recall in detail the fearful
circumstances of the crime. Young Lee
had been seen for half an hour previous
pacing the stone sidewalk on Ashland ave-
nue., near Madison. fronting the Third
Presbyterian Church. This is the church
of which DR.. Withrow, recently from Bos-
ton, is pastor, and which became widely
known as the charge of DR.. Kittredge, now
located in New York. OF this church
banker Rawson has long been a leading
light. and was still an honored member,
Notwithstanding he had been charged by
his wife with perjury anfother offenses
enough, if true, to make him
vgBITABLB wHITED sErULcHRB
He, on the other hand. alleged that she,
although prominent in society and beau
tiful woman in appearance, was really a
disreputable, blasphemous, devilish- tenn
pered adventures, who coveted only his
money. fOr year or more the two had
been fighting each other in the divorce
Courts, and within week the banker has
filed against her additional charges of
adultery.
Little attention had been paid to young
Lee, as he stalked backward and forward
past the church entrance. He was lost in
the crowd when the gayly. dressed congre-
CATION began to come out, among them the
well-known form of the bank President,
Mr.. Rawson. He was about to step to his
carriage, when, breaking the sweet, ma
jestic tones of the organ, came the
SHARP CRACK OF A REVOLVER,
Followed by a deep groan. An earthquake
could have scarcely produced more con-
fusion at the moment among the throngs of
gentlemen, ladies and children and the long
tiers of carr ages and coaehmen that lined
the sidewalks in every direction. A din of
screams began, but subsidized almost in
stantly. The slender well-dressed and
youthful Lee was seen to quickly but
coolly steady his shining pistol with his
left hand, while with his right he again
and again pulled the fatal trigger. With
tie stided cry,
I'm KILLED.